to be able · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
enter
לָבֽוֹאla.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ecclesiastes 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
Habakkuk 1:4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment pr…
Isaiah 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isaiah 5:23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
Isaiah 10:1-2 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
Jeremiah 5:27-28 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end th…
Amos 5:11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye sha…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 59:9-15
The scope of this paragraph is the same with that of the last, to show that sin is the great mischief-maker; as it is that which keeps good things from us, so it is that which brings evil things upon us. But as there it is spoken by the prophet, in God's name, to the people, for their conviction and humiliation, and that God might be justified when he speaks and clear when he judges, so here it seems to be spoken by the people to God, as an acknowledgment of that which was there told them and an expression of their humble submission and subscription to the justice and equity of God's proceedings against them. Their uncircumcised hearts here seem to be humbled in some measure, and they are br…
Justice and righteousness are put away from our legal courts.
in the street--in the forum, the place of judicature, usually at the gate of the city (Zac 8:16).
cannot enter--is shut out from the forum, or courts of justice.
Adam Clarke on Isaiah 59:14
Justice standeth afar off - צדקה tsedakah, righteousness, put here, says Kimchi, for alms to the poor. This casts some light on Mat 6:1 : "Take heed that you do not your alms," ελεημοσυνην. But the best copies have δικαιοσυνην, righteousness; the former having been inserted in the text at first merely as the explanation of the genuine and original word.
John Gill on Isaiah 59:14
And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off,.... Jarchi interprets this of the vengeance of God, and his righteousness in his judgments, not immediately executed; but it is to be understood of the want of judgment and justice being done among men; and therefore are represented as persons turned back, and standing afar off, rejected, neglected, and discouraged. The Targum renders it,
"they that do judgment are turned back, and they that do justice stand afar off;''
having none to take their parts, but everyone opposing them: this may respect both the want of judgment and justice in courts of judicature; no regard being had to right and wrong; no true judgment being g…
The Church Fathers
And judgment has been turned away backwards, and justice has stood far off, for truth has fallen down in the street, and equity could not enter. LXX: And we have gone away from judgement, and justice stands far away, because truth has been consumed in their ways, and they were not able to pass through the straight path. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off. For what part does justice have with iniquity? What fellowship does Christ have with Belial? Righteousness has stood among the nations and has departed from us, for truth has fallen in the squares. For the way that leads to death is wide and spacious (Matthew 7), for they refused to enter the narrow path where truth resides.
The prophetic text makes this statement detailed in order to invite those who desire help to appease the Lord by saying something like the following: We acknowledge our offenses, we have recognized our impiety, we have spoken falsely against you, our Master, since we promised to keep your laws and we have violated them. We have not ceased contradicting you, uttering words of unrighteousness, proposing things that are unjust, failing to dread your judgment. We have kept ourselves far from righteousness. After this, he changes the form of his statements and puts their accusation categorically: "For truth is consumed in their ways." It has vanished, he says, because deceit has veiled it. "And they could not pass by a straight path." For they have not stopped taking the opposite route.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Truth — Used in various senses in Scripture. In Prov. 12:17, 19, it denotes that which is opposed to falsehood. In Isa. 59:14, 15, Jer. 7:28, it means fidelity or truthfulness. The doctrine of Christ is…
Backsliding · Sin of, to be confessed — Sin of, to be confessed
Conscience · GUILTY — GUILTY
Injustice · Exemplified: Jews — Exemplified: Jews
Justice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Truth · .Uphold not — .Uphold not
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And judgment is driven back. It is a mistake to suppose that the Prophet returns to his earliest subject, (Isaiah 1:5) and speaks of the punishments which the people had suffered at the hand of God; for he still proceeds with the preceding narrative, and explains the diseases under which the people labored, that they may see clearly that they are justly punished. But we must distinguish this verse from the ninth, in which he said that "judgment had gone back;" for there he declared that they were deprived of God's assistance, because they did not deserve to have him as the defender of their cause; but here he says that "judgment is driven back" in a different sense, that is, because they hav…
The confession of personal sins is followed by that of the sinful state of society. "And right is forced back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth has fallen in the market-place, and honesty finds no admission. And truth became missing, and he who avoids evil is outlawed." In connection with mishpât and tsedâqâh here, we have not to think of the manifestation of divine judgment and justice which is prevented from being realized; but the people are here continuing the confession of their own moral depravity. Right has been forced back from the place which it ought to occupy (hissı̄g is the word applied in the law to the removal of boundaries), and righteousness has to look from af…
The people growl and moan with longing for redemption, finally coming to terms with their sinfulness.
Rashi on Isaiah 59:14
And justice has turned away backwards Our revenge from our enemies, which depends upon the Holy One, blessed be He, and His righteousness stands from afar. Why? For truth has stumbled in our streets, [and since truth has stumbled from the earth, even from heaven righteousness and justice do not come.]
